An exhaust system is usually fastened at the inlet side to a combustion engine in order to be able to discharge the combustion exhaust gases that accrue during the operation of the combustion engine. The inlet region of the exhaust system fastened to an engine block or to a cylinder bank of the combustion engine is usually formed by a so-called exhaust manifold, which unites a plurality of individual inlet-side exhaust pipes into a common outlet-side exhaust pipe. Usually, the individual exhaust pipes are fastened to the combustion engine by way of a common flange. It is problematic there that in operation of the combustion engine high temperatures develop on the exhaust gas side, which result in thermal expansion effects. Because of different temperatures on the engine block or on the cylinder bank and on the other hand on the flange of the exhaust system or the exhaust manifold and/or due to different heat expansion coefficients of the interconnected components, thermally induced stresses can occur within the interconnected components or within the connection. In particular, these stresses can result in buckling formation in the region of the common flange, so that leakages develop there through which the exhaust gas can escape into the environment untreated. The present invention deals with the problem of showing a way for the connection between exhaust system and combustion engine which is particularly characterized in that the danger of damaging the interconnected components due to the thermal expansion effects is reduced.
According to the invention, this problem is solved through the subjects of the independent Claims. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent Claims.